Page 2 of Changeling
Then Nathan heard it.
May the road always rise to meet you…
The lullaby. The one Nathan had known so well in his youth, from his mother’s sweet voice, and that Sasha knew, too. But it wasn’t one voice or the other that Nathan heard. The song filled the air around him in both of their voices, his mother’s and Sasha’s, and it was almost deafening, surrounding him as he was pulled further and further inside the mirror. Nathan didn’t understand if the song was a warning or the promise of hope, buthe clung to it and listened, closed his eyes andlistened, even as he felt himself drawn into the bitter cold of the other side.
Nathanjerkedawakeinthe backseat of the car—their newest ‘borrowed’ car—as they traveled away from Minnesota and the hospital. There was no bedroom, not yet. They had only just left the hospital that morning.
Deep mouthfuls of air filled Nathan’s lungs as he struggled to breathe without making any telling movements or sounds. He was laid out in the backseat, and the last thing he wanted was to alert Sasha and Jim in the front seats that he had had another nightmare. They both worried enough as it was.
Nathan stared at the ceiling of the car as he worked to calm himself and remember that he was okay. The dreams were bad, and they’d only get worse, but they couldn’t actually hurt him. They simply meant…that his time was growing shorter by the day.
Not exactly a comfort, Nathan thought.
“Are you all right, Nathan?”
Nathan swallowed down a yelp. When he glanced down his body, he saw that Walter was sitting in the seat with him, which resulted in Walter basically sittingthroughNathan’s outstretched legs since he wasn’t capable of touch. Nathan shuddered at the creepy image and tossed Walter a glare.
“My apologies, but I could tell your nightmare was intense. I wanted to be able to speak with you.”
The one thing Nathan could appreciate about his Spirit Guide was that only he could see or hear him, so at least Jim and Sasha couldn’t eavesdrop. Nathan raised an eyebrow for Walter to go on.
“This detour is ill-advised,” Walter began. “You could have months, but you could also have as little as days. I understand the need for you to rest as your wounds heal, Nathan, but is a trip to the Gatehouse really the best thing? I know Alex informed you that it is currently free of other boarders, and Gabriel is no longer a concern, but the last venture there was hardly fortuitous. And I cannot go inside with you, remember.”
Nathan nodded. He was well aware of the dangers and the details. But they needed this. A few days to breathe; that’s all he was asking.
Walter frowned. “Jim is also a concern. His True Awakening could honestly happen at any moment. I know he is struggling to remain in control, but your mutually ticking clocks are not a comfort to me any more than they are to you. If you must stay at the Gatehouse, keep a closer eye on Jim, for everyone’s sake. I do not know if there is anything we can do to help him, but while our priority is your bounty, Jim is a major concern. The very survival of the Veil is at stake.”
Nathan stared back up at the ceiling. He’d heard it all before. He knew the risks, he knew his life was a time bomb, and Jim’s wasn’t any better. He also knew that nothing was set in stone, and if Sasha really could help save Nathan, then Nathan was going to save his brother. He couldn’t help feeling relieved that he would be without Walter for a few days, since the Spirit Guide couldn’t enter the Gatehouse. Nathan really wanted some peace and quiet, for as short a time as he could have it.
He closed his eyes, wondering if a few minutes of dreamless sleep were even possible anymore. Which was about the time the radio blared.
“Sonuvabitch!” Nathan growled, jolting upright in the backseat and effectively scattering Walter’s image. He was thankful he wasn’t any taller since his head did not make hard contact with the ceiling.
He glared up at the front seats. The rude awakening might not have been all that bad if the radio hadn’t so obviously been turned up just for that purpose, and if Sasha and Jim weren’t both singing along to "Life is a Highway" as loudly as possible. Nathan enjoyed Sasha’s voice, but Jim had no ear for music.
“Seriously,what the hell?” Nathan demanded. “Be nice to the invalid! I’m supposed to be resting, remember? Freaks…” he added with a grumble. Adjusting himself in the seat behind Sasha, who was driving, Nathan pointedly ignored Walter when he rematerialized beside him.
Sasha continued singing along to the radio, his smile blinding through the rearview mirror, while Jim turned to Nathan with a grin. “Time for your meds, Nate. Had to wake you somehow.”
Nathan forced a returned smile, but it was crooked, and not only because he was annoyed. He couldn’t help suspecting that Jim was keeping things from him, that maybe his walk on the wild side with those amber slit eyes meant he was starting to remember his time in the Veil. But Nathan didn’t know how to come right out and ask that, not without sounding accusing. Besides, Nathan couldn’t help feeling a small sense of calm every time he saw Jim smiling and acting normal.
He rummaged through the small bag on the floor, filled with all the things he needed for recovery from his shotgun wound. He didn’t have to ask which meds he was due for this time. His chestached.
“Either of you got something to drink?” Nathan asked.
A plastic bottle was pushed back toward Nathan and he blinked at it skeptically.
“Green Tea?” Nathan read off of Jim’s drink of choice. “You’re kidding me, right? Could you be more of a girl?”
Jim frowned and retracted the offered beverage.
Sasha had been driving since Nathan was last fully awake. He produced a bottle of water and passed it back. Nathan’s gazelingered on the dark leather of Sasha’s sleeve, from hisnewleather jacket. Sasha had sulked a bit at first from the loss of his old one, but he’d struck gold at a consignment store in one of the Minneapolis suburbs and had been able to replace the ruined jacket before they left. Nathan could admit the incubus definitely looked good in leather.
“Thanks,” Nathan said, but he reached a little too far forward as he took the bottle and had to grimace. “Damn it. Definitely time for more painkillers. I can take two of these things, right?” Nathan was already planning to take at least two as he unscrewed the cap on the bottle of pills and started shaking some out into his hand. He also had a small wound on his leg from the bullet Gabriel had grazed him with, but at least that was almost healed.
“Two’s fine,” Sasha said, finally breaking off from singing. “Might give you a stomachache though, and you’ve been complaining enough as it is,” he added teasingly.
“I could still kick your ass if you wanna pull over, smart guy." Nathan popped the pills in his mouth and took a long swig of Sasha’s water. "Where we at?"
